


twenty-eight mansions

by dokyeomes



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Kim Mingyu & Xu Ming Hao | The8 are Best Friends, M/M, Minor Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Slow Burn, Xu Ming Hao | The8 is Bad at Feelings, Xu Ming Hao | The8-centric, Yoon Jeonghan is Whipped, meanie if you squint, most people are just mentioned in passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-10-29 07:08:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dokyeomes/pseuds/dokyeomes
Summary: stargazer Minghao and the ways Jeonghan reminds him of the night sky





	twenty-eight mansions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jeonghao](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeonghao/gifts).

> for the purposes of this fic Minghao and Jeonghan are the same age
> 
> for NASA employee & Jeonghao lover Aseel, Minghao is proud of you (and so am I, and Mingyu who Hao bragged to)

Minghao, when he wasn’t studying to barely pass his classes, spent his time with his head in the clouds and his eyes looking through the length of a telescope. Stargazing was something his mom did with him back in China, and so for his 19th birthday, before he moved to Seoul to study classic art, he asked for a telescope. The telescope was the best way he could think to have his mom with him over 500km away.

He found it comforting to be looking at the same sky his family did, frequently updating them with photos of the newest constellations he had seen and star patterns he thought were pretty. His roommate Junhui, also from China, got used to waking up at odd hours of the night to find Minghao asleep with his head on a constellation encyclopedia.

Minghao loved the night sky more than anything, until Jeonghan.

-

**Sagittarius – _an arrow to the Antares_**

When Minghao walked into his criminology lecture, the only non-artistic module he took that year, he did not expect an angel to yell “WE’RE PARTNERS IN CRIME THIS YEAR” at him at the top of his voice. He didn’t have time to ask many of the thirty questions floating around his head before the angel dragged him, by his wrist, to a table at the back of the lecture hall.

The angel, he nicknamed for his perfect skin and white blonde hair, sat beaming at him before giving him a confused look Minghao knew was mirroring his own.

“Partners in crime…get it? Because this is a crime class…and we’re partners this year…” he said, pointing at a list of pairs on the projected screen Minghao, in his complete rush to get to a 9am class he knew he’d regret, had just not seen. He didn’t bother asking how the angel knew he was Minghao because he was almost 100% sure he didn’t want to know the answer. Minghao also was not the biggest talker on Earth. 

"So Myungho...Minghao...Myungho..."

"Minghao. You are?" 

"Jeonghan, but I'm not who we're discussing. So Minghao, what brings my roommate's best friend's art-loving telescope-using roommate to a class on crime?"

Of course he knew Minghao through Junhui, everyone knew Junhui.

"In the same way the stars are meant to affect who you are intrinsically as a person, I want to know why some people decide to get up in the morning and commit crimes. It makes me feel uneasy not knowing how everything potentially effects us."

"Oh the stars!" Jeonghan said dramatically, clasping his hands next to his heart, "I'm a Libra, if you couldn't guess from my graciousness of getting you a seat at the back of the lecture so you can keep drawing whatever you're drawing without getting called upon." He finished with a sly grin and Minghao honestly didn't think he'd been paying enough attention to him to notice he was doodling little scorpions on his textbook. 

"I don't really know how much I buy into astrology, I just like the mythology behind constellations and their placements." Minghao responded, stopping doodling mildly out of embarrassment. His doodles were good, and he knew this, but the thought of anyone outside his Elements of Art teacher seeing them made him curl up into himself.

"So myth boy, I can call you that right-" 

"No, please-"

"SO MYTH BOY, talk to me about Sagittarius, Libra is boring - I'm just some weighing scales."

Minghao pondered just _not doing it_,and also arguing that all stars are anything from boring, but he had enough information in his brain that it might shut Jeonghan up for long enough for him to think straight. He begins, whispering so they don't get caught not discussing vandalism.

"One of the largest southern constellations, stars better seen from below the equator, and the fifteenth-largest in the sky Sagittarius is always aligned in the sky to represent a centaur holding a bow and arrow and neighbours Scorpius, the scorpion his arrow is pointed towards. The arrow is pointed at Antares, the heart of the Scorpion, to represent the avenging of the death of Orion who was killed by the scorpion's sting. The original story was Sumerian in nature, but was mistranslated by the Greeks so originally he may have been half-man, half-goat and not half-horse. Either way they were credited with inventing archery and he will always have his bow and arrow in the sky aimed at Antares for eternity."

"And what are you myth boy? Where in the sky is your leader?"

"I'm a Scorpio, my heart is Antares."

"So someone's meant to shoot you in the heart? Kind of cold, I'll admit, but I promise I'll protect you."

The rest of the class he spends fending off Jeonghan's incessant need to narrate everything going on in the room. The next time he sees Jeonghan is at their next class and he's wearing a small arrow necklace. _Of course he's going to make fun of my astrology thing, of course he is_, is the first thought in Minghao's head. It's when Jeonghan pulls out a tiny heart necklace that he realises it wasn't to make fun of him. His own heart pulls when Jeonghan holds it out to him - it's tiny, silver and delicate.

"Consider it a new partner in crime present, and for Cupid not Sagittarius! I'll shoot you with affection instead of a real arrow," he says with a tiny grin.

"We're doing a project on whether rehabilitation or detention works better for society, you honestly didn't have to buy me a present," Minghao whispered back.

"Who said anything about paying?" Jeonghan replied, doing his cute but deadly giggle. Minghao felt it in his chest, right where his heart was.

-

**Pictor - _the painter_**

Minghao's main elective was Elements of Art, a fancy way for the University to include a two-hour slot for you to essentially do whatever art you wanted without calling it "Painting Class." It was his favourite two-hour block, every Wednesday and Friday from 2-4pm. It was also the only class he shared with his best friend Mingyu.

They were only three weeks into the class and he already felt stuck on what to paint. Mingyu, on the other hand, was just "fucking around" as he so eloquently put it when Minghao peered over his shoulder.

It didn't really help his case that he could feel a piece of silver metaphorically burning into his chest and that was taking up most of his thoughts. He wasn't sure how to concentrate and focus on his art when all he could think about was a very loud, very cute angel who gifted him a necklace (that he did pay for - Minghao only believed him when he saw the receipt) the second time he met him.

It didn't help his case either that all he could think about, aside from a necklace, was the constellation of Jeonghan. Libra, the twenty-ninth largest constellation, also in the southern constellations and neighbour to Scorpio, used to form the scorpions claws but was now more closely associated with Virgo. It felt almost poetic to him how Jeonghan, a beautiful boy, and he, someone distinctly average, were once together but now separated. Were Minghao to ever make any kind of move, that's how he knew it would end up - with Jeonghan moving onto someone else.

The oldest known star in the Universe, HD 140283, is situated in Libra. Minghao ponders if Jeonghan was born from the atoms it was created with, a bright blueshifted giant with a questionable age, maybe even older than life itself. He wonders if he can paint about this too - an angel created by the stars themselves. 

He almost doesn't hear Mingyu ask, "Hey Hao, what's going on in that complicated little head of yours?"

"Thinking about the oldest star in the universe, nothing too big," he joked to himself, the star being classified as sub-giant for it's luminosity level, the name making him giggle at his own pun. Mingyu, used to the bad jokes by now, just glares and pouts.

"Does it have anything to do with the necklace you can't stop fiddling with?" Mingyu asks, giving Minghao a sly smile. Mingyu knew Jeonghan existed, mainly because of Minghao's mild complaining that Jeonghan will do the absolute most to make sure he gets no work done in any criminology class, but he wasn't aware that he gifted him the first meaningful present Minghao had received in a long time. Minghao, as a general rule, was not a gift-receiver. He was the least materialistic person he knew, favouring experiences and words of affirmation over physical forms of love or affection. However, a tiny amulet from someone he barely knew that had been bought because of something he found interesting made his chest feel all funny and his hands clam up. It was the smallest gift in the world and he would treasure it forever.

Before he knew what he was doing he splashed some paint on a tablet and got to work, sweeping differing shades of purple and silver across the canvas. He was more into abstract art than anything else, finding comfort in painting something that didn't _need _to be explained and didn't have to fit some perfect standards of real-life. He was never good at still-life anyway, preferring to mix a multitude of colours into something that resembled whatever he felt that particular day. Today he was feeling a heavy mix of adoration, because he liked to think about Jeonghan, and nerves, because he _liked _to think about Jeonghan.

By the time class ended he was no closer to figuring out what he wanted to paint, but his canvas was covered with a constellation that resembled a certain angel to him. 

-

**Aquarius - _Ganymede with __the most handsome face in Ancient Greece _**

The night of the meteor-shower, one of the four Aquarius was a radiant for, also happened to be the first time Minghao saw Jeonghan in a non-academic setting. It also happened to be the night he severely fucked up.

It's Mingyu's boyfriend's birthday party and Minghao feels thoroughly out of place, not least because he's been awake for three days trying to finish just one damn painting. By the time he shows up, an hour late, everyone is already on their way to exceedingly drunk. Minghao was trying his hardest to not _look _for Jeonghan but every time he saw someone that wasn't him he felt a mild sense of disappointment.

When Mingyu saw him he enveloped him a bone-crushing hug and thrusted a large cup of something strong into his hand before dragging him around to say hi to everyone for at least forty-five minutes, because he knew Minghao wouldn't do it on his own. The last person he sees is the only one he really wanted to see. Jeonghan stands in the kitchen, mixing a neon red concoction, and speaking with Wonwoo, Mingyu's boyfriend. Minghao tries his best to not stare at him but he feels his stomach turn into knots the moment he sees the white hair paired with a choker and pale purple shirt.

He's not paying attention, still staring at Jeonghan, when someone (probably Wonwoo's roommate Soonyoung) smashes a birthday cake into Wonwoo's face but as Minghao watches Mingyu pull a piece of cake out of Wonwoo's hair and gently caress his face before planting a kiss on his forehead something inside him twists. He's not the jealous type, relishing in people he loves being happy, but a small part of him wishes he had that. He missed the feeling of loving someone. He ponders this when he feels someone wrap their hand around his wrist.

"Wanna see something great?" Jeonghan asks whilst sporting the widest grin in the world, not waiting for a response before he half-runs, half-drags Minghao up six flights of stairs to the roof. It's the tallest point on campus, the air clearer up here than anywhere else and the sky so blindingly beautiful. Minghao, having being dragged around for a second time that night, didn't mind this time.

"My favourite myth boy-"

"Please stop calling me that."

"-you may be wondering why I, a simple boy who barely knew other planets had other moons, have brought you to this very romantic rooftop-"

"Jeonghan I know there's a meteor shower...I was, uh, trying to get home in time to see it with my telescope," he said, trying not to make it seem like he didn't want to be stood this close to him. He was close enough to smell the faint vanilla cologne Jeonghan always wore mixed with the sweetness of the cherry flavoured alcohol he'd been drinking like it was regular juice for the past four hours. It was a weirdly comforting smell and Minghao can feel himself being drawn towards the very, very drunk boy.

"It's not very romantic if you don't let me explain that I researched rocks in the sky for you," Jeonghan whispers, the smallest pout forming on his lips. Minghao would've found it cute had he not sounded genuinely upset.

"Jeonghan...Hannie...thank you for looking up something for me," he said, slowly moving his hand to fit nicely in Jeonghan's, giving it a tiny squeeze. He wonders if it's the alcohol buzzing through him that made him give Jeonghan a nickname but the moment Jeonghan smiles at him he doesn't care how it happened.

"Because you gave me a cute nickname I may forgive you. But only if you explain what is happening in the sky right now because I may be drunk but I think the sky is in love with the Earth."

And so that's what Minghao does. He stands, hand firmly gripping Jeonghan's like he would disappear if he let go, and explains the concept of meteor-showers to him. He's not sure at what point Jeonghan's head falls on his shoulder, but it becomes harder and harder to form a coherent sentence when he realises how warm it feels having him pressed up into his side. It almost feels like home. The moment Jeonghan's head moves from his shoulder is the moment Minghao's stomach starts to feel weird and he knows, intrinsically knows, that he likes Jeonghan. He likes the way he smells, he likes the way his hair sticks out in the wrong places whenever they share a 9am class, he likes the idiot way he says star names on purpose to irritate Minghao and most of all he likes the way he calls him myth boy (no matter how often he claims he hates it).

It's an hour or so before they both make the small trek back downstairs to see their friends, and Minghao keeps his hand in Jeonghan's the entire time. When they get back to the party they separate, with Jeonghan joining the game of charades and Minghao sitting next to Mingyu on the couch. Mingyu doesn't say anything but gives him a knowing look complete with a raised eyebrow.

"Gyu, don't. I know....I know."

Mingyu pats him on the shoulder and hands him a drink. The sky was so beautiful that night, but all Minghao could think about was the profile of Jeonghan's face he could now see from across the room.

-

**Delphinus - _the match-maker_**

Four months into their partners in crime partnership, long after their project had been handed in and Jeonghan stuck around anyway, Mingyu and Junhui took it upon themselves to play cupid too. It took two phone calls, one clueless Minghao and one very eager Jeonghan. Both Mingyu and Junhui were tired of Minghao pretending he wasn't disappointed when his phone pinged with a text and it wasn't Jeonghan. Minghao was tired of pretending he didn't like Jeonghan too, but was too clueless to do anything about it. 

Mingyu pushes Minghao into a small cafe under the pretence of a study date, whilst Junhui brings Jeonghan for the same reason. It's immediately obvious to everyone except Minghao exactly what type of weird romance movie plot they were trying to pull off, one that Minghao never thought he'd be involved in.

"Wow, fancy seeing you here," was the first thing to come from Junhui's mouth when he and Jeonghan inevitably found Mingyu and Minghao cramped in a booth in the back corner. Mingyu wonders just _how many_ mid-2000s American romance movies he watched before executing the plan. Mingyu immediately moved to let Jeonghan sit next to Minghao which, realistically, should've been Minghao's second clue that something was up but he was so intent on never telling anyone he had a crush, never mind believing someone had a crush on him, that he took the whole situation as mere coincidence.

It didn't sink in when Jeonghan set down a large cup of green tea, Minghao's favourite drink, without asking him what he wanted. It didn't sink in when Jeonghan found an excuse to move closer to him and it didn't sink in when Jeonghan was pressed against him, his arm resting on the booth behind him, helping Minghao with an essay. It started to sink in when Mingyu and Junhui made a bad excuse about having to see Wonwoo a mere twenty minutes into the "study date" leaving Minghao and Jeonghan alone. Things were never awkward between the two of them, but the half-date atmosphere lingered over them both and Minghao didn't know what to say.

"You look uncomfortable myth boy, talk to me about stars again," Jeonghan said, a small smile on his lips. Minghao sensed he was nervous too, glimpsing at his hands rubbing together under the table (one of the only tell-tale signs Jeonghan had of him feeling anything except obnoxiously peppy).

"I guess I can tell you about Delphinus, since this is supposed to be some kind of date...I think. Delphinus has two mythology related backgrounds, but the one that feels like tonight is the story of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Poseidon wanted to marry Amphrite, who some people call the personification of the sea herself, but she wanted to protect her virginity and fled from him. Poseidon sent out searchers to try persuade her to give him a chance, none of whom succeeded until Delphinus, a dolphin, came along. He found her accidentally but managed to persuade Amphitrite to accept Poseidon. As a thanks a dolphin constellation was placed amongst the stars."

"It's kind of creepy if you think about it, how he chased her down," was Jeonghan's only response, but he seemed intrigued.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's the borderline between romance and stalker but, in the end, she didn't do anything she didn't want to do."

"And this reminded you of tonight, hm? Where do I fall on the creepy to romantic scale?" he asked so innocently Minghao had to stop and think for a second. Jeonghan was still sat close to him and he could feel the heat radiate from his body. Minghao gulped.

"Um, I guess this is nice, outside of the fact I only clocked this was a date about ten minutes after Mingyu and Junhui ditched." Jeonghan smiles at this and it makes Minghao smile too, one that fills his whole face. It's rare for him to smile that wide but something about Jeonghan brings out the happiness in him and after years of feeling lonely, he really can't complain. It's when Jeonghan leans over to wrap his arms around Minghao that his smile falters and his eyes go wide. He barely hears the next sentence come out of Jeonghan's mouth

"You can ask me on a date sometime you know myth boy. I'll take you to an observatory if that makes it an easier for you to ask me," Jeonghan says, his face right next to Minghao's ear. Jeonghan quickly kisses him on the cheek, speeding off before Minghao can say anything. When Minghao gets home that evening it takes him seven hours to draft the most pathetic real first date text he could possibly draft, but he has nothing else in his brain and sends it anyway.

_01:28_

to  Hannie:

I would love to take you to that observatory sometime

_01:32_

to myth boy!!!!

I would love to be taken to that observatory sometime

_01:33_

btw do you know where there is one I just said it so you'd ask but I'm actually kinda clueless

Minghao chuckles, sending him a link to a place and slowly drifts off to sleep, dreaming of his angel.

-

**Ophiuchus - _a healing power_**

The day of their date, Minghao almost fails his test and subsequently texts to cancel. At precisely 7pm, however, he hears a knock at his door followed by Junhui giggling. He had resigned himself to depress eat his way through six packets of ramyun and thus did not expect a very flustered angel to show up on his doorstep, never mind one dressed in a suit. The sight of Jeonghan in a crisp white shirt with waistcoat finally got Minghao to stop wallowing for more than thirty seconds. 

"Junhui told me you're about to eat the entire contents of the kitchen instead of going out with me which I would find rude if I hadn't already been impressed by the five bowls currently sat on your coffee table." As Minghao opens his mouth to say something Jeonghan places his finger over it causing his brain to further short-circuit. 

"Put on something expensive I know you own even though you think I don't know those massive freight trains you wear on your feet are Balenciaga and let me buy you actual human food."

Minghao wants to argue but he knows Jeonghan and Junhui well enough to know if he doesn't do this of his own accord they will pin him down until he relents. He dresses in a black turtleneck and black slacks. He wants to wear the "freight train" shoes just to annoy Jeonghan but decides against it at the last second - he doesn't want to look second-rate when he's going on a date with the prettiest person he's ever seen. It's this realisation that it's him hard and throws him for a loop. He's going on a _date _with _Jeonghan_ who still won't let the nickname myth boy go even though he's sure they're both way past the petty nickname stage.

"Now you look handsome! The moping in your sweats was kind of cute but this is much, much better," Jeonghan says when he exits his room, "Let's go!"

He doesn't say where they're going but Minghao stops thinking about anything except the feeling of Jeonghan's hand in his the moment they leave the apartment. His hand stays wrapped up until they reach a cafe on the side of the river, having walked in silence except for Jeonghan pointing out whenever he sees a star he thinks looks 'shinier' than the rest.

"Now this isn't an astrological observatory but it does have a pretty good view of the river and the sky, in case you're feeling particularly into the stars tonight. I checked and it shouldn't be cloudy until tomorrow so you can point out everything I don't know for the next hour, or two if this goes how I hope it does, with no issues," Jeonghan rambles as they're led to a table, seats next to each other facing out of a floor to ceiling window.

Minghao sighs, feels his chest constrict and water form in his tear ducts. Jeonghan almost immediately notices and panics in a very Jeonghan way, by apologising incessantly.

"Oh god please don't cry! Junhui said this was a good idea and I haven't seen you in a week since that fucking awful half-date they tried to set us up on and I like you and wanted to see you. God please don't cry I can't deal with crying I know I'm not emotionally stunted but crying really throws me off my peppy cheerleader game and I'm SORRY I didn't mean to make you cry-"

"Jeonghan, please be quiet for one second before you give yourself an asthma attack from saying two thousand words without breathing."

Jeonghan sits rigid, hands in lap, staring at Minghao with his mouth pressed firmly together. Minghao isn't even sure why he's crying. It could be the exam, it could be the fact he's nervous or it could mix the exam, the nerves and the fact Jeonghan likes him enough to deal with him when he's upset. He's not used to someone putting up with him when he's down except Junhui who feels obligated to because they live together.

"Hannie, it's not you, trust me. I'm bummed I almost failed a test, I walked in a puddle on the way home and ruined my shoes, can't work out what the fuck I'm meant to paint for my art final, and I can't work out why you're putting up with me when I can't express emotion as well as you can and all I talk to you about his constellations you definitely do not care about," he whispers, almost to himself. 

"First of all you idiot," he replies, taking Minghao's shaking hands in his own, "I don't know the first thing about the solar system but _you _like talking about it so much I wish I knew more. I even memorised the ecliptic longitude of the Scorpio constellation for you, which you would've found out had you not cried on me, and I don't even know what that means. It's 210 to 240 degrees, by the way. I'm sure you knew but that's all I've got." He shrugs his shoulder and Minghao half smiles through the tears that are slowly subsiding. 

"Minghao, my myth boy, I know you have this stupid problem with affection where you think I'm doing this for a joke or I'm like this with everyone but I absolutely promise you I would not frantically rent a suit half an hour before a date to a posh restaurant who serves food I've honestly never heard of for just anyone." He slowly reaches his hand to Minghao's face and, when he doesn't pull away, gently wipes the tears from his cheek. "Also, if you need a model for your project I've heard from someone you think I'm pretty and for that you get a discounted rate." 

The grin he gives Minghao is so infectious he can't help but smile too, for the first time all day. He isn't sure how Jeonghan knows what to say and when to say it but he always does, he's just Jeonghan. Minghao leans over to hug him, the first time he's initiated it himself, and slowly wraps his arms around Jeonghan's shoulders. He whispers a small thank you in the older boys ear and gently kisses him on the cheek as he leans back into his seat, blushing at himself being bolder for once.

The rest of the date is spent with Jeonghan pointing at every star he can see and asking Minghao "What's that one? Do we like that one? Is it cooler than Libra?" like a petulant child. Minghao says "yes, of course Libra is the best constellation", even when he favours his own, just to appease him because the idiot smile on Jeonghan's face is worth every word. The idiot smile spreads to Minghao's face too as Jeonghan rants about his own personal passion, which Minghao would've honestly never guessed was obscure fridge magnet collecting. He promises to bring him one back next time he goes home to China.

When Jeonghan walks him home he walks with his arm around Minghao's shoulder, spouting off some random facts he knows about anything and everything. Minghao never wanted to know the lifespan of the common garden worm but he knows now. Jeonghan has, Minghao estimates, around seventeen thousand useless facts floating around in his brain and he can't wait to learn every single one of them. They reach his apartment way faster than he would like but Jeonghan assures him he'll see him sooner than he thinks.

There's no awkward moment to say goodbye either, because Jeonghan leans in before Minghao has a chance to do anything. When his mouth lightly taps against Minghao's he tastes like the coffee he had after their meal, if only sweeter. Minghao smiles, making it logistically harder to kiss Jeonghan, but he can't stop his face from doing it. It feels better than he ever thought it would, both physically and emotionally. He imagines this is how it feels when two neutron stars collide together to create one larger neutron star. He can feel himself fit into Jeonghan like a puzzle he never thought he would ever complete. They kiss deeply until Jeonghan announces he has to go. When they break apart he pulls Minghao in for one last hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning myth boy. 9am criminology unfortunately beats spending eight hours straight kissing you, as much as I want to. We are way too early into this fledgling relationship for you to see me in a morning without looking my best."

"I'm sorry did I hear the word relationship?", Minghao replies, a slight teasing tone to his voice.

"Oh please if you thought you couldn't get rid of me before you're now stuck with me for life," Jeonghan laughs, "See you at 9am myth boy, be good for me." He kisses him again and then skips off down the street, leaving Minghao's lips tingling.

Being stuck with Jeonghan for life sounds pretty good to him.

-

**Scorpius - _the Scorpion with an arrow at his heart_**

In the first year Minghao had been dating Jeonghan he spends significantly less time with his eye looking through the lens of a telescope and more time with his eye looking at his boyfriend through the lens of a camera. Sure, he still liked to stargaze, but now he'd rather do it laying in a field with Jeonghan curled around him. Jeonghan learns too, and likes to bring him cute little post-it notes of facts he's learnt about the solar system. Most of the time Minghao already knows them, but he pretends he doesn't to see the world light up in Jeonghan's eyes. He spends a lot of his time gazing into them - they're stars in themselves.

Jeonghan is still Jeonghan, he still buys Minghao tiny gifts (always with the receipt) and drinks horrendous flavoured alcohol. He still distracts him in the back of classes, including the ones he doesn't have to be in, and doodles little angels next to his scorpions. He still brings him cookies he's tried baking himself and Minghao eats them despite the risk of food poisoning. Most importantly, he still loves Minghao, more and more every day.

Minghao changes more than anyone. He relaxes more, touches more, feels a lot more. When he wakes up and sees Jeonghan is still there his stomach flips. It doesn't matter how many days they wake up together, each one is just as exciting as the last. He makes a habit out of leaving Jeonghan little notes with words he is too embarrassed to say out loud and Jeonghan returns the favour by listing off as many constellation facts as possible as he strokes Minghao's hair when he needs to nap. He even colluded with Minghao's parents and bought him an expensive encyclopaedia on the twenty-eight mansion model of the Chinese constellation system. Jeonghan is so homely it feels like he's surrounded by twenty-eight literal mansions all at once, each one full of things he loves about him.

True to his word, Jeonghan protects Minghao from every arrow thrown his way. The memory of the one exam he flunked was replaced by Jeonghan studying with him for three days straight and soothing him when he started to get anxious about failing the re-sit. The memory of the time he almost broke his back b-boying as a dare was replaced by the feeling of Jeonghan forcing everyone he knew to draw little doodles on a get well soon card and the giant cake he bought him because hospital food tasted so bad. The memory of the time he had a bad two weeks was replaced by the memory of Jeonghan wordlessly making sure he ate enough, slept enough and watched enough old cartoons until he started to feel less sad. Every bad memory he had over a year was replaced with the vision of an angel, his angel, getting him through it all.

On their one-year anniversary he woke up to homemade soybean milk and deep-fried dough sticks, a recipe Jeonghan coaxed out of his very secretive mother. He, in return, does his best to make hotteok which is harder than anticipated when you have a boy constantly trying to distract you from doing anything by grabbing you at the waist and leaving kisses on the back of your neck. They promised to not buy gifts but Minghao still buys Jeonghan a pendant he'd been eyeing for months and Jeonghan returned with a new filter for his telescope. It's when Jeonghan writes him a poem in almost fluent Mandarin that he cries. It's only a small haiku comparing Minghao to the moon but he reads it and the tears spill from his eyes.

Minghao, from the start of their relationship, had saved little scraps of writing that reminded him of Jeonghan and placed them in a box under his bed labelled "my star system." They were little star facts he read that reminded him of his boyfriend, on random scraps of paper that he could find and kept just to remind him of how he had the best thing in the universe to love him. He never once planned to show Jeonghan any of them, preferring to keep them as little pieces of his heart to himself, but the haiku changed something in him. His boyfriend learning enough Chinese to write a poem for him was enough for him to know he would love him forever.

And so Minghao watches as Jeonghan reads each individual fact ("Jeonghan is a picky eater at restaurants - Vermilion bird is also picky about food", "20190812 Jeonghan's eyes sparkled a lot today - more hypergiant than his usual bright giant", "I think I love Jeonghan and can't feel the arrow pointing at my Antares anymore") and cries too. It's cheesy and sappy and Minghao would've hated this a year ago but now he wants nothing more in the world than to see Jeonghan this happy all the time.

Minghao used to love the stars more than anything, until Jeonghan. Now he loves Jeonghan like nothing else in the galaxy. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really not good at writing anything overly long, because I have no attention span, so thank you for reading fragments of what I hope make up a full AU - you can fill in any blanks yourself.
> 
> Thank you to Hao and Han for being inspirational people and thank you to Aseel for working at NASA and giving me the idea of the backbone of this fic.
> 
> I'm on twitter @dokyeomes too.


End file.
